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Vivaldi: The Four Seasons
Release Date: 2008-09-02
Sales rank: 217
Grammy Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell, who has enchanted audiences for two decades with his breathtaking playing and tone of rare opulence, has recorded Antonio Vivaldi's concertos The Four Seasons. Widely considered as one of the premiere violinists of his generation, Bell is joined on this studio release by the celebrated musicians of the Academy of St.Martin in the Fields, who toured the work with him prior to the recording sessions. This recording of The Four Seasons is coupled with another masterpiece of Baroque virtuosity, Giuseppe Tartini's The Devil's Trill. The liner notes by Linda Kobler explain the curious genesis of Tartini's piece and the indisputable place of Vivaldi's concertos in the history of sonata composition. |
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Italia
Release Date: 2007-09-25
Sales rank: 918
Grammy winning trumpeter Chris Botti has returned in top form with Italia, his most lushly romantic and expressive album to date. Featuring duets with some of today's biggest international stars including Andrea Bocelli, Paula Cole, and Dean Martin, Botti's rich and articulate musical collection is truly beautiful, enchanting, and understatedly elegant. |
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One Chance
Release Date: 2007-09-18
Sales rank: 237
Britain's Got Talent winner Paul Potts has spent most of his life feeling 'insignificant'. Bullied at school for being 'different', he realized growing up that he had one true friend and that was his voice. Singing was his escape. He was able to lose himself in his own little world - the vicious words of his tormentors replaced by hauntingly beautiful lyrics and melodies that lifted his heart and spirit. It was a love, a passion, a lifeline that would follow Paul into adulthood and help him through many more periods of adversity.
Though it's fair to say that when Paul strolled awkwardly - almost apologetically - onto the Cardiff stage for his first Britain's Got Talent audition a week before that final, in his now infamous £35 Tesco suit, and announced to Simon and fellow judges Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan that he was going to sing opera, they never thought for one minute they were looking at their winner. Until he opened his mouth and started to sing. Paul Potts Photos Former cell phone salesman and now Britians Got Talent winner Paul Potts has spent most of his life feeling insignificant and bullied, but says that his voice was always his one true friend, a voice that Simon Cowell calls simply magical.Former call phone salesman, cancer survivor and now Britians Got Talent winner Paul Potts has spent most of his life feeling insignificant and bullied, but says that his voice was always his one true friend, a voice that Simon Cowell calls simply magical. |
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Four Last Songs
Release Date: 2008-09-16
Sales rank: 511
This is the special, deluxe edition! In addition to the Strauss program, a second disc which highlights Fleming's signature roles at the Metropolitan Opera is included. These extended scenes are drawn from her highly-regarded Decca discography. Renée Fleming, the world's preeminent lyric soprano, is joined by Christian Thielemann, internationally acclaimed for his performances of Strauss works, for this recording of the exquisitely beautiful Four Last Songs. These enduringly popular works have become signature pieces for the soprano and she was delighted for the opportunity to work with the gifted Thielemann. In addition, Fleming performs a selection of lieder with orchestra as well as arias from Ariadne auf Naxos and Die ägyptische Helena.. On September 22, Fleming will open the Met Opera Season with a Gala featuring her in her most acclaimed roles. This one-night-only performance will be broadcast live in HD to movie theaters throughout the US. |
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Four Last Songs
Release Date: 2008-09-16
Sales rank: 441
Renée Fleming, the world's preeminent lyric soprano, is joined by Christian Thielemann, internationally acclaimed for his performances of Strauss works, for this recording of the exquisitely beautiful Four Last Songs. These enduringly popular works have become signature pieces for the soprano and she was delighted for the opportunity to work with the gifted Thielemann. In addition, Fleming performs a selection of lieder with orchestra as well as arias from Ariadne auf Naxos and Die ägyptische Helena. Also available in a special, deluxe edition! In addition to the Strauss program, a second disc which highlights Fleming's signature roles at the Metropolitan Opera is included. These extended scenes are drawn from her highly-regarded Decca discography. On September 22, Fleming will open the Met Opera Season with a Gala featuring her in her most acclaimed roles. This one-night-only performance will be broadcast live in HD to movie theaters throughout the US.Renee Fleming's 2008 album Four Last Songs highlighting Richard Strauss: Songs & Araia. Munchner Philharmonic. Christian Thielemann. Ren,e Fleming, the world's preeminent lyric soprano, is joined by Christian Thielemann, internationally acclaimed for his performances of Strauss works, for this recording of the exquisitely beautiful Four Last Songs. These enduringly popular works have become signature pieces for the soprano and she was delighted for the opportunity to work with the gifted Thielemann. In addition, Fleming performs a selection of lieder with orchestra as well as arias from Ariadne auf Naxos and Die „gyptische Helena. Also available in a special, deluxe edition! In addition to the Strauss program, a second disc which highlights Fleming's signature roles at the Metropolitan Opera is included. |
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Gaetano Donizetti - La Fille du regiment / Dessay, Florez, Palmer, Corbelli, French, Campanella, Pelly (Royal Opera House 2007)
Release Date: 2008-04-15
Sales rank: 3188
This DVD version of Donizetti's comic opera zooms right to the top of any list of essential videos for opera fans. It may not be the composer's best work, but given a top-notch production with world class singing actors, it brings vocal thrills and an abundance of laughs, a combination that's hard to beat. The stars are Juan Diego Flórez and Natalie Dessay, both unbeatable in bel canto roles, and both in top form here. Flórez's mellifluous tenor is flexible enough to make child's play of the terrifying (to other tenors) nine high C's in Ah! mes amis," and supple enough to make his tender love arias moving. Dessay is equally comfortable in the stratospheric coloratura passages and poignant in such heart-tugging set-pieces as her farewell to her regimental "fathers" and her misery as the victim of the Marquise's well-meaning attempts to teach her to be an aristocratic lady. She's also a terrific comic actress. In her first appearance she's doing the regiment's laundry, and her antics with the iron and the ironing board while singing elaborately difficult coloratura passages induce belly laughs. But then, so do her comic acting in many other scenes, such as her Act II entry in a silk dress and full petticoat, her walk a wonderful parody of a "lady's" heel-to-toe gait. That moment alone is worth the price of admission. Lesser roles too, are done to perfection. Felicity Palmer, a long-time Covent Garden favorite, is a delicious Marquise de Berkenfield, and Donald Maxwell, is her apt partner as Hortensius, her servant. Sergeant Sulpice, the heroine's protector, is well-sung and acted by Alessandro Corbelli, and Dawn French almost steals the show as the overbearing Duchess. Conductor Bruno Campanella leads a spirited performance, enhanced by the fine playing by the Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House. Laurent Pelly's stage direction is wonderful for its comic touches and Chantal Thomas' simple but effective sets add to the delights. The video direction efficiently serves the staging, focusing on the action and the singers without adding extraneous shots that detract from the musical flow. All of which makes this DVD a can't-miss for opera fans. --Dan Davis La Fille du regiment is in 16:9 ratio. Sound options include PCM Stereo, Dolby 5.1 Surround and DTS 5.1 Surround. Subtitles include English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian.In January 2007, superstar soprano Natalie Dessay, joined on stage by acclaimed tenor Juan Diego Florez dazzled British audiences in Laurent Pelly's new production of Donizetti's "LA FILLE DU REGIMENT". The perfectly staged & cast production became the operatic event of the year, receiving rave press reviews & rapturous audience ovations. |
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25 Classical Favorites
Release Date: 1996-01-23
Sales rank: 525
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Glass Box: A Nonesuch Retrospective(10 CD)
Release Date: 2008-09-30
Sales rank: 1515
This elegantly packaged 10 disc retrospective surveys four decades of work by Philip Glass, from his earliest solo pieces to his world-renowned operas to his Oscar-nominated film scores. In music, words and pictures, it traces the evolution, as critic Tim Page puts it in his liner notes essay, of 'the first composer to win a wide, multi-generational audience in the opera house, the concert hall, the dance world, in film and in popular music-simultaneously.' The long-awaited release of this set follows this past spring's triumphal new staging of Glass's 1980 Satyagraha at the Metropolitan Opera House.This elegantly packaged 10-disc retrospective surveys four decades of work by Philip Glass, from his earliest solo pieces to his world-renowned operas to his Oscar-nominated film scores. In music, words and pictures, it traces the evolution, as critic Tim Page puts it in his liner notes essay, of 'The first composer to win a wide, multi-generational audience in the opera house, the concert hall, the dance world, in film and in popular music - simultaneously.' The long-awaited release of this set follows the triumphal new staging of Glass's 1980 Satyagraha - 'A landmark in Minimalism,' praised the New York Times - by English National Opera in 2007 and at New York's Metropolitan Opera House in 2008, excerpted here from a 1985 studio recording. The Glass Box opens with the composer's groundbreaking solo work, the originally self-released Music In Contrary Motion, which first generated buzz among the composer's fellow musicians, visual artists and writers and the more intrepid concert-goers in his adopted home of New York City. It continues with excerpts from Einstein On The Beach, his downright revolutionary collaboration with theatrical maestro Robert Wilson, an epic work that catapulted Glass onto the world stage as a major composer. That, of course, was just the beginning: Glass Box includes a selection of the composer's 'Glassworks', short pieces written for his ensemble; excerpts from the trilogy of hypnotic sound-and-image spectacles created with filmmaker Geoffrey Reggio, starting with Koyaanisqatsi; string quartets he composed for label-mates and friends Kronos Quartet; and examples of his recent symphonic work, among many, many other pieces. Collaboration and community have always been central to Glass's approach, and the appreciations offered by his fellow artists in the almost 200-page book included in this set illustrate the depth of his influence, the range of his interests and the strengths of his friendships. The contributors include Laurie Anderson, David Bowie, choreographer Molissa Fenley, Glass Ensemble pianist Michael Riesman, and Paul Simon. Nonesuch label head Robert Hurwitz offers a candid account of how Glass became a cornerstone of the label roster in the eighties; Keith Potter takes an erudite look at the technical intricacies of how Glass created his sound; and Tim Page offers a biography of Glass, from the perspective of friend and fan. The composer's longtime colleague, the artist Chuck Close, selected the artwork for each of the individual discs; Close and other artists - Francesco Clemente, Annie Liebovitz, Robert Mapplethorpe and Robert Wilson - interpret Glass's image for each side of the cube in which the discs are encased. Page calls his biographical essay an "interim report", since the hard-working 71 year-old composer continues to write new music every day and travels the world to perform with his ensemble, give solo concerts, and present new works, such as Book Of Longing, his 2007 collaboration with poetsongwriter Leonard Cohen. By looking back, Glass Box presents the story of a life - and work - in progress. As Martin Scorsese says of Philip Glass in the notes, "His music is grounded and transporting at the same time, eastern and western, dark yet luminous. It has the pulse of life, and it carries the spirit of acceptance, as well as the longing for transcendence." |
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Josh Groban
Release Date: 2001-11-20
Sales rank: 932
No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: GROBAN,JOSH
Title: JOSH GROBAN
Street Release Date: 11/20/2001
Domestic
Genre: ROCK/POPThere are worse things in life than making your acting debut on the much ballyhooed season finale of Ally McBeal, though teen operatic baritone Josh Groban doesn't seem destined to encounter them anytime soon. As the awkward high school student-client who asks the typically romance-jinxed Ally to his senior prom, Groban performed this debut album's "You're Still You" (adapted from film-composing legend Ennio Morricone's Academy Award-nominated score for Malèna, with lyrics by Linda Thompson) as a heart-tugging, literal showstopper. The young phenom was just 17 when veteran producer-writer David Foster tapped him to fill in for Andrea Bocelli at rehearsals for the 1999 Grammys, where Groban found himself suddenly dueting with Celine Dion. Indeed, such were his fortunes that the young Foster protégé was forced to drop out of Carnegie Mellon when professional commitments--including this record--interfered. And if this collection tends to hew sometimes uncomfortably close to Foster's own MOR sonic instincts, the material offers enough challenges to display Groban's talent and the potential of his warm, mature voice: a lyrical take on another Morricone classic, "Cinema Paradiso"; melancholy readings of Don McLean's "Starry, Starry Night" and Albert Hammond's "Alejate"; masterfully dramatic takes of the Neapolitan "Alla Luca Del Sole" and "Canto Alla Vita," the latter featuring the Corrs. Many of Groban's performances here, including a neo prog-rock-opera take on Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" (with Lili Haydn), seem both bigger and bolder than their precious musical frameworks, a telling hint that Grand Opera can't be far from his grasp. As said earlier, there are worse things in life. --Jerry McCulley |
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Pavarotti's Greatest Hits
Release Date: 2007-09-18
Sales rank: 1159
Here's a feast of great tenor singing. It's also a feast of thrills--one selection after another offers Pavarotti's remarkable, full-throated excitement in the music, whether the infectious spirit of his renditions of Neapolitan songs or the trumpet-like High C's he effortlessly tears off in the extended scene from Donizetti's La fille du regiment. Apparent throughout is Pavarotti's big-hearted emotional generosity that infuses this superb collection with an immediacy and communicative power that's impossible to resist. Of course, "Nessun dorma!" is here to lead off the set with the tenor's biggest hit, but his other Puccini arias are, if anything, even more compelling. Verdi is represented by such well-loved Pavarotti favorites as "La donna è mobile" and "Questa o quella" from Rigoletto. He's as compelling in the "Ingemisco" from Verdi's Requiem, the voice blooming in the "Inter oves" section and then fined down to a gorgeous pianissimo. But there's not a single weak track on these discs, whose attractions are enhanced by full texts and translations. --Dan Davis Back by popular demand--Pavarotti's Greatest Hits! Celebrate the life and career of Luciano Pavarotti--the world's most famous tenor and King of the High C's! First released as an LP in 1980 and then again in 1985, this is one of Pavarotti's best-selling albums. Instantly recognizable cover features classic photo of Luciano Pavarotti dressed as Pagliaccio from I pagliacci. Chock-full of his all-time greatest hits including Nessun dorma, La donna è mobile, Vesti la giubba, Funiculi Funiculà and more! Reissued in a slim-line jewel box for the first time and at a special "2 for 1" price point. |
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